Rilo Kiley Interview

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Jason Boesel talks shop.

By Chad Grischow

Rilo Kiley (Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, Jason Boesel) emerged from the indie rock oasis of Los Angeles in 1998 and promptly took three years to kick out their debut platter, Take Offs And Landings via Pacific Northwest label Barsuk.

They switched to Midwestern Saddle Creek for their sophomore effort, The Execution Of All Things, in 2002. Their third release, More Adventurous, found them on the Warner Bros. distributed label Brute. Following this release mainstays Lewis, Sennett, and Boesel spent some downtime exploring side projects (Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins and Sennett and Boesel with The Elected).

With a new album, entitled Under The Blacklight, about to drop (it comes out August 21st, 2007), not to mention a new label deal (with Warner Bros.), we thought it was high time to catch up with the band and see what's changed for them now that they're on a major label and it's midway through 2007.

To this end drummer Jason Boesel took a break from beating his skins and answered a few quick questions about where Rilo Kiley is at in 2007.

IGN Music: With the success of the side projects of Jenny and Blake, how was it getting back into the studio as Rilo Kiley?

Jason Boesel: I think there was an overall sense of excitement with just a tinge of dread. It felt sort of like going back to school after summer was through. You never know what the people you saw every day for so long are going to be like after months of not seeing them. They could have turned into assholes. You could have turned into an asshole and not even realized it. Once you see them, though, and you all sit down at your desks, it all sort of falls into place.

IGN Music: To further expand on the first question: With Jenny already having done work apart from Rilo and Blake and Jason having done Elected, 1. Are there plans for more exploring of avenues outside of the RK sphere in the future, and 2. How does branching out like this help to make the music of Rilo stronger (or does it)?

Jason Boesel: I'm sure that there will be a lot more exploring outside the "RK sphere." I think that is the nature of all the individuals in the band. Rilo Kiley is sort of an open relationship. That being said, I think we're all excited about being monogamous for a while.

IGN Music: I've read quite a few interesting online tales of where the band took the name Rilo Kiley, each a little stranger and completely separate from the next - including the twin suicide of two gay high-school football players to it being the name of a famous Scottish athlete. Care to clear up the mystery, or add a new story to the fold?

Jason Boesel: I cannot clear up that mystery, as I am as mystified as anyone else. My feeling is that the truth will never be told.

IGN Music: "The Moneymaker" is quite the departure from anything fans have heard. How did the sleek disco-esque funk song come about?

Jason Boesel: Jenny came in with that song. She had written it on bass. We all liked it immediately and came up with an arrangement in twenty or thirty minutes, and that was that.

IGN Music: As if the song weren't sexy enough on its own, you brought in actual porn stars under the guise that they were auditioning for a porn film for the video. Who came up with the video's concept?

Jason Boesel: I believe the idea initially came from our friend Johnathan Rice. He's kind of a perverted long hair, but this time he proved useful.

IGN Music: Have you caught any flack from any of the video's participants?

Jason Boesel: No flack, as of yet. Everyone seemed stoked to be a part of it.

IGN Music: Would you ever score a porn film? If so, what would it sound like?

Jason Boesel: If we ever scored a porno film it would sound like a sharkskin suit.

IGN Music: You named More Adventurous as a response to the expanded sound the band captured on the album. With the dance vibe of "The Moneymaker" and the new album's title, Under The Blacklight, should fans expect an album full of funk-grooved rock this time?

Jason Boesel: I think the title is meant to imply a certain seediness of life that exists everywhere in the world. The sort of undercurrent of humanity that people usually ignore, or just can't see. I suppose the black light exposes things you normally wouldn't see, and it hides others that you normally would. Fans should expect to listen less and feel more.

IGN Music: Do your dreams or nightmares ever influence your music?

Jason Boesel: Yes. I once had a seven-night stint of dreaming about the same girl. It was a bummer.

IGN Music: Did any of you have a blacklight poster adorning the walls of your room when you were young. If so, what was it?

Jason Boesel: I never had a blacklight poster, I don't think. Strangely enough, we had a bunch of them up in the studio while we were making More Adventurous.

IGN Music: Finally, what does it mean to be part of Rilo Kiley in 2007?